


Self Prescribed Solutions To Nonexistent Problems

by Corrupt_perfection



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: ADHD, Angst, Busy Sheriff Stilinski, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Stiles, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Stiles Stilinski, Light Pining, M/M, Medication, Multi, Self-Medication, Some Swearing, Stiles Stilinski Has ADHD, Unintended weight loss, Worried Derek, driving while medicated, misuse of medication
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:36:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11594961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corrupt_perfection/pseuds/Corrupt_perfection
Summary: If something isn't broken then there is no reason to try and fix it. This is a reasonable thought, but sometimes people seek change, even if it's completely unnecessary.Stiles decides that maybe a change in his medication is what he needs so he can start getting more positive attention from the people he is close to, or at least less complaints. When he takes matters into his own hands he disregards his own health for acceptance he thinks he needs.





	1. Chapter 1

If something isn't broken then there is no reason to try and fix it. This is a reasonable thought, but sometimes people seek change, even if it's completely unnecessary. There are a lot of things that Stiles doesn't like to talk about, or simply doesn't care enough to talk about. Nobody really notices that he keeps so many things to himself, because he is so often speaking that people just assume he's an open book. 

The fact that Stiles is part of a werewolf pack as a human is something no one, who isn't already involved in the secret, knows about or even suspects. This lack of suspicion has to do, partially, with his love of fantasy stuff, so even if he did mention his pack people would probably file it as nonsense. Well, if they would even care enough about the words spewing from his mouth to even listen in the first place. Even so, Stiles manages to keep the subject of werewolves out of his seemingly unfiltered vernacular. Along with this major secret, Stiles has little things that he never mentions, even if everyone can basically figure it out on their own. 

Stiles had long been diagnosed with ADHD, and medicated for it for nearly as long. His medication had been fine; the same medication, at increasing doses, had been helping him get through his days since he was ten. The excessive chatter was mostly a result of his personality rather than a symptom, and if he took his meds he could focus at what was at least a normal human level.

However, he was in the middle of his Senior year so there was a lot of additional pressure to keep up with his high expectations for himself, and maybe his medication wasn't right for the new academic challenges he'd be facing. This was basically what he told the doctor anyway, when he made an appointment to see about changing to a different dosage, or even a different medication altogether. He went so casually into a tangent, or three, that the doctor didn't really question him much on it, quickly suggesting a new medication that may work better, but that obviously nothing would be perfect, and of course there may be side effects. The appointment didn't last very long, and Stiles managed to completely keep out the fact that he had been hearing a lot more comments lately regarding his talking, his fidgeting, and his overall personality, all in reference to how annoying he is. He definitely didn't mention that the comments were mostly from his pack of friends, and especially his favorite resident scowling Alpha. 

It starts off simple, trying his new medication, and casually making sure not to mention it to anyone. Even his father wasn't really aware of the different prescription, or even that Stiles had made an appointment in the first place. To be fair, that wasn't because Stiles was hiding it, Sheriff Stilinski just had his hands full at the station lately. There weren't many side effects that Stiles had noticed yet with his new medication, aside from the expected lack of appetite. He felt less jittery, but he didn't really notice too much difference from how he was with his old meds. The thing he did notice was how his friends were making less complaints and snide remarks about his loud mouth. He took this as a good sign.

About two weeks into taking his new medication, Stiles finds himself struggling to keep his mind on track with his school work. This wasn't an issue before the medication change, but his chatter hadn't been an issue since he switched meds. While getting ready for school on Tuesday morning he eyed the bottle of his old medication sitting on his dresser next to his new prescription. He switched meds in the beginning of his usual prescription cycle, resulting in a mostly full bottle left over. After a few moments weighing the pros and cons Stiles opened both bottles, taking a pill from each of them and chasing them with a sip from his water. His expectation was that one would help him focus and the other would keep his mouth in check.

That day seemed to go by so slowly, Stiles felt as if his brain had been soaked in honey, but his teachers seemed to appreciate the change, and his friends seemed to be mostly unaware. The lack of detention, or even a warning from any teachers that day was the thing that convinced him to keep taking both pills each morning. 

As the week went by, Stiles seemed to be more sure that his brain had been soaked in honey, sticky slowing fluid gradually reaching every corner of his mind before crystallizing, leaving him feeling gritty and stuck. He hardly spoke, his brain not really moving quick enough to keep up a conversation anymore, an interesting juxtaposition from before. However, everyone seemed to like the new, quieter, less hyper version of Stiles, not aware he had practically zombified himself. Even his father showed his approval of the change, without even knowing about the new meds, leaving a note for Stiles to find on the fridge saying how happy he was that Stiles was finally staying out of trouble at school. 

So as he drove to the new Hale house that evening for the weekly Friday Pack Night he hoped he made the right decision taking an extra half pill from each bottle to make sure the effects wouldn't wear off too soon. Driving was more difficult than normal, but there weren't any other cars to worry about when driving into the preserve. 

Pack Night went like it normally did when nothing strange or evil was in town, pizza and movies, except without Stiles' usual unintentional commentary and excessive flailing limbs. Stiles sat upright on the edge of one of the couches, taking up almost no space. Derek sat on the other end of the same couch, not exactly lounging, but looking mostly relaxed, despite his ever present scowl. The rest of the pack was spread out in other chairs and on the pile of blankets on the floor, fully engrossed in the movie and each other.

As the first movie's credits rolled, someone finally said something. It was Jackson who spoke first, "Wow, a movie without Stillinski feeling the need to share stupid facts every five seconds. It must be the apocalypse." This earned a laugh from the other teens, and seemed to spark a new topic for the group.

"I could actually hear the actors say their lines instead of just Stiles quoting along with terrible timing," Isaac added, resulting in a few nods.

"I'm just glad the earthquake like foot tapping finally stopped, I was getting sick of my usual spot on floor, but now I can enjoy it again," Erica pointed out, snuggling in closer to Boyd. 

This continued for a while, although Stiles wasn't sure how long because his brain had slowed down so far that he couldn't really follow what was going on anymore. He didn't really notice much other than the fact that another movie was started, and when it was done everyone started to head out. Stiles was hazily aware that Scott and Allison were leaving, and that only Stiles and Derek were left in the house. Nothing was really clear, and the few things that did make it to his brain didn't really mean anything to him. Enough of him was present to do the same as his friends and stand to leave, only to stumble his way to the door. The lack of food and over dosage of medication having him feel dizzy. 

Suddenly, Stiles was pinned against the closed door, eyes focusing just enough to register Derek standing right in front of him, eyebrows glaring and nostrils flaring as he stares at Stiles.

"What do you want Derek?" Stiles asked, voice absent of any real inflection. 

"You are not driving home like this, you could kill someone," Derek growled out.

"How?"

"You are clearly not sober."

After a lengthy pause to figure out how to form words Stiles says, "I haven't been drinking, and nobody is even on these back roads, especially not this late."

"You are on something. I don't know what the Fuck you took, but I can smell drugs in your system, and even if I couldn't you look like shit." Derek made a face of disgust and disappointment. 

Instead of words Stiles just made a light dismissive noise along with an eye roll. This caused Derek to slam his hands on the wall next to Stiles' head before grabbing the teen's keys. The keys end up thrown across the room with a flick of Derek's wrist. Stiles looked up to see Alpha red eyes inspecting his own.

"What the fuck did you take Stiles?" The question was a deadly whisper from Derek's lips, fangs not yet visible, but it wouldn't take much more at that point.

"Just my medication, nothing dangerous or illegal," Stiles forgot momentarily that Derek could hear him if he lied, not expecting the fangs and inhumanly growl that followed the lie.

"Don't fucking lie to me!" Derek shouted in Stiles's face. What seemed to throw the wolf off was the lack of any real emotion change in the teen, despite the fact that a display of aggression this close would typically result in scents spiked with fear and, curiously, arousal. 

Staring directly at Stiles' eyes Derek noticed the haziness to the teen's expression, taking note of this just seconds before the teen collapsed, down and against Derek's chest. Derek had no idea what to do, but he was definitely worried. He picked up the teen, noting how he felt lighter, confirming his earlier thoughts to himself that the teen appeared to have lost weight. He set Stiles down on the nest of blankets left on the floor from the pack, petting his hair and staring at the human with sad and concerned eyes. 

"What have you done to yourself sweetheart? You are perfect, why are you turning to drugs? How long has this been going on?" It wasn't lost on Derek that he was the only one who could honestly hear his questions, but that was probably the only reason he was willing to use the endearment. He left Stiles momentarily to retrieve a wash cloth that he dampened in the sink, coming back to lay the cloth on Stiles' almost feverish forehead. 

It was ten minutes of listening to Stiles' heartbeat, staring intently at his face, and petting his hair while Derek considered going to the hospital. For whatever reason, he decided against it, and at just shy of eleven minutes, Stiles started waking up. 

Looking up into the concerned eyes of his long time crush, Stiles was thrown off by the least threatening expression he had ever seen on Derek's face. He gathered all of his thoughts to come up with some sort of quip. "Don't worry Romeo, the poison was just a rouse, no need to mourn poor Juliet." 

Whether it was his plan to piss off Derek, that was what happened. Derek's murderous expression once again adorned his face, and he spit words back at Stiles. "Really? You want to make stupid references right now? Alright, Juliet, what the fuck was the 'poison' that you took? And why?"

While Stiles was still in a bit of a haze from the meds, he knew there was no way around the situation, as his defensive sarcasm was not quite accessible yet. "The doctor changed my prescription recently," Stiles mentioned, trying for a half truth in hopes of the subject being dropped. 

"I noticed that much, two weeks ago. Tonight was different, you took something else, and your system is not responding well. You could barely get to the door earlier, and I have no idea how you managed to drive here without crashing. Not to mention the weight loss, you look sick." Derek was using his words for once, not willing to let his usual distaste for communication let Stiles endanger himself any further.

The combination of the actual use of words, and the worried tone laced through them had Stiles wanting to confess everything, from the over dosage of medication to his long standing crush on the Alpha. Not yet though, he still had a little resistance left, "I thought I was looking quite svelte. Plus, everyone else seems quite fond of my latest improvements." Stiles couldn't hide the defeated tone from his last comment, and his scent had qualities of sadness, self loathing, and desperation to it. 

Derek took in all of what was just expressed and tried to make sense of it. "I prefer when you don't look like a skeleton and act like a zombie. I doubt this is all side effects of your new prescription, but if it is you should talk to your doctor about something different, because it is clearly not reacting well."

"It is fine, my body just needs to adjust to the new combination," Stiles said casually, not realizing he had just revealed his secret, but Derek didn't miss it.

"What do you mean combination? What else are you taking? Did you buy drugs from someone?"

Stiles sighed, finally accepting that he couldn't hide anything anymore. "Technically, both medications are prescribed to me, but I was supposed to stop taking the old one now that I have the new one. I was only taking the new one for the first two weeks, and it helped with my jitteriness and excessive talking, but my focus wasn't as good as before. I just thought that, maybe, if I took both I could solve both issues."

"How long have you been doubling up on your meds?" Derek didn't like that Stiles still seemed to act as if he made a good choice.

"Just since Tuesday, but everyone has been so much less bothered by me, they even were praising the changes. Teachers are able to get through lessons without scolding me for something, my dad even left me a note saying he's proud of me for staying out of trouble. You heard the pack earlier, they were all ecstatic that I wasn't being annoying. Even you had been less blatantly murderous towards me lately." Stiles confessed all of this to Derek, hoping he could just go home soon to sleep. 

"I was acting like that because I thought you weren't feeling well, not because I was enjoying the quiet. I have spent so long in the silence, it can get suffocating, I don't really seek it out anymore." It was at this moment that Stiles finally sat up to be at mostly the same level as Derek, being careful to do so slowly to avoid a head rush. 

With his eyes directed at the floor, Stiles decided to complete his confession, "I wanted to really impress you, like I seemed to do with everyone else. I thought that I had to make sure the medication wouldn't wear off before the evening was over, before you could see how good I could be. I thought it was a good idea at the time. I already felt like shit, it couldn't really make me feel any worse, and it would all be worth it if it got your attention in a positive way for once. I thought just an extra half pill from each bottle would do the trick. Just a little bit more of those chemicals and I could finally be perfect for you." By the end of Stiles' rambling he was barely holding back sobs, tears already making their way down his slim cheeks.

Even Derek was close to tears, and he wrapped Stiles in his arms, holding him tightly as Stiles began to sob. Derek said the one thing he thought he would never admit, especially not to Stiles, "I have thought you were perfect from day one, and you are one of the only reasons I have stuck around here so long. Most of my aggression is towards everyone else, because I can feel everyone around you not treating you how they should." Derek kissed the top of Stiles' head and rubbed circles between the human's shoulder blades, waiting for the sobs to ease.

When Stiles had calmed down Derek said, "We can discuss the rest in the morning, after you have had some sleep and let the drugs run out of your system. Just know that I really care about you and I will be here for you no matter what."

"Okay," was the quiet reply from the human as he rubbed his cheek against the Alpha's chest.

At that, Derek laid the two down on the blanket nest and cuddled Stiles close against his chest, running one hand along the human's spine, and the other gently caressing Stiles' hair. Derek waited until Stiles' breathing and heartbeat had evened out with sleep before allowing himself to let down his own defenses and sleep as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles have to talk, which really just ends up in arguing. Stiles tries to figure things out, but nothing seems to work exactly how he would like.

When Stiles woke up, he felt strange, not really sure about half of the previous night's events, and only mostly understanding why he woke up in a blanket nest on the floor of the Hale House. There was a discomfort in his head, not quite like a hangover, more like the aftermath of an energy drink crash. He got up to get himself some water, not really sure of the time, but from the light coming through the windows it was at least noon. He found it odd that Derek wasn't around, but figured he was just on a run, and was honestly grateful that he didn't have to face the Alpha yet. The only reason Stiles didn't leave immediately was because he had no clue where his car keys were. 

Stiles went over to the front door and tried to look over to where he assumed Derek had thrown his keys the night before, but not really sure where they had ended up. Inevitably, Stiles ended up tearing his way through the living room in search for his keys, getting more annoyed and pissed off by the second. It was almost thirty minutes into the search when Derek walked through the front door, still in workout clothes, but holding a paper bag with food from the local diner. Derek regarded the mess surrounding Stiles with a quirk of his eyebrow, curious, and almost amused, but mostly just bored, or annoyed. 

"Did the couch piss you off or something?" Derek asked with his usual dry tone, the kind that made the humor that much less detectable. 

"No, you pissed me off! Where are my damn keys, Derek?" Stiles was definitely back to his normal self, getting in Derek's face as he shouted. Not only were the excessive chemicals out of his system, but he had none of his medication in his system at that point, making his temper a bit harder to control, along with most of his general impulsiveness. 

Unfortunately, even though he cared for Stiles, and had wanted to handle this differently, Derek always had a bit of a short fuse, and the Alpha wolf side of his brain was not one to back down from a challenge. "I have your keys, and I'm keeping them until we talk about what the fuck you have been doing to yourself." The words weren't shouted, but the harshness to them could have made even the lowest whispers feel lethal. 

A scoff was expelled from Stiles, "Wow, you want to actually talk. Is that even safe, considering how allergic you are to even the most basic of conversations? Not to mention the fact that emotions seem to give you hives."

"Dammit Stiles! We are not doing this right now!" Derek was just keeping himself enough in check to stop his claws from coming out, but with the way Stiles tended to push, it would take a lot of control.

"Good, then give me my keys so we don't have to do this," Stiles said, extending out his palm expectantly. 

"No, I mean we are not going to argue right now. You are not leaving here until we figure out a way to fix your problem." At this point, Derek was breathing deeply through his nose, the words were ground out through clenched teeth.

"My problem," Stiles snapped, "is called ADHD, and I have a way to fix it. I have been seeing a doctor about it, and having it medically treated for almost half my life now. I don't think you are going to be much help."

"You don't need those fucking pills to fix you! The pills are the problem, and you need to stop taking them." 

"I will go back to taking my normal amount, but I am not going to stop taking them all together. And you better not tell anyone about this," Stiles countered.

"Fine, but if I find out you have been abusing your meds again, I will take the situation into my own hands," Derek conceded, albeit unwillingly, before shoving Stiles' car keys at him.

"And fucking eat something before you turn to dust," Derek snarled out just as Stiles had opened the front door.

"Whatever you say, oh mighty Alpha," Stiles spit back before slamming the door behind him. 

Derek listened to Stiles stomp his way to the Jeep, before peeling out of the driveway to go home. With a shout Derek tried to release the pent up emotions, mostly in control of his shift, but his claws did tear apart two of the discarded pillows before he felt a little less volatile. He knew it wasn't worth it to even change out of his workout clothes, knowing he needed to run at least a few more miles to get his head back in check. That had not gone how he had hoped at all.

***

Once Stiles got home he stormed up to his own room, immediately grabbing the two pill bottles off his dresser. He stared at both bottles for a moment before shoving the old prescription into the back of his sock drawer, taking a pill from his current prescription. The pills rattled inside the plastic as he slammed the orange container back onto the dresser top and retreated back down the stairs.

Stiles immediately made his way to the kitchen, recognizing his hunger and knowing he had to get some form of food in him before he lost his appetite. This created a time crunch of about fifteen minutes to find, make, and consume something, which didn't leave many great options. For the sake of time he settled for cereal, managing to scarf down almost three bowls of Cheerios before he didn't have the desire for another bite, even though he was honestly still kind of hungry. The taste hadn't changed, but the cereal may as well have turned into cardboard soaked in water, with as little as his brain could stand the idea of eating it.

The rest of the bowl got dumped down the garbage disposal, and as Stiles was putting the milk back in the fridge he saw the bright green sticky note stuck to the door. This was Stiles and his dad's most common form of communication when the Sheriff got really busy, like he had been lately. 

I'm pulling double night shifts all weekend, and probably all week. Please try not to wake me unless it's an emergency. Sorry for not seeing you. Grocery money is on my desk. ~Love Dad

While it wasn't the most comforting thing for Stiles, not knowing when he would actually get to spend time with his dad, he knew the town needed the Sheriff. He let out a sigh before grabbing the grocery list taped to the fridge, a lengthy combination of both Stilinski's handwriting. Looking at it, Stiles realized just how long it had been since he last went to the grocery store, so he went to grab the money from his dad's desk and got ready to go back out.

Grocery shopping was one of Stiles' most ranging activities when it came to productivity, because how productive he was greatly depended on the moment. When he had a specific list, his headphones, a budget, and a clear head he could tackle a very efficient shopping trip in under forty minutes. However, if his head wasn't clear, he didn't have his headphones, or really a specific purpose for being there the trip could take upwards of three hours, and/or result in only unnecessary items. So, while his head wasn't quite as clear as he would have liked he was able to keep himself busy with the task at hand, mostly because he wasn't in the mood for a long stroll through the market. He was done shopping pretty quickly, having blocked out everything around him with loud music. 

It was that same loud music, played through headphones so as not to wake his dad, that helped him get through his homework. He wasn't exactly struggling, but he felt as if it took him way longer than it should have. He filed it away, although he knew the thought would bug him again soon, but decided to avoid it for the moment. 

***

The next week proved more difficult than Stiles had anticipated, because while he hadn't been interrupting or fidgeting as much as he used to, he found his focus drifting off more and more. The teachers had definitely noticed, and about half of them had outwardly complained about it in front of the class. It was these reactions from his teachers that had Stiles trying to make a different plan for the following week.

The Friday Pack Night had been fine, he was a bit more jittery due to the late hour, his medication nearly worn off completely. While his foot tapping did have Erica and Boyd moving to the other side of the floor to get away from him, luckily nobody had said anything about him because he had managed to at least keep himself quiet. 

Derek appeared grumpy as always, but his eyes lacked the usual essence of casual murder that seemed to be in place whenever he looked at Stiles. This had been chalked up in Stiles' mind to the fact that Stiles had kept his side of the promise, meaning Derek didn't have to be bothered enough to care anymore. Whatever the reason, Stiles had just been grateful that the Alpha didn't try to interrogate him again. 

Monday morning Stiles had officially made a decision to try going back to his old medication, taking the bottle from the back of his sock drawer, and putting the other bottle in its place. He took the pill and started getting ready for school.

While it did take more effort to keep himself from fidgeting and keep his mouth from running off, Stiles did appreciate how much easier it was to focus on his school work again. The old medication was comforting to him in a way he hadn't really considered much before. His teachers didn't seem to be too bothered by the change back, but his friends were a different matter.

At lunch, Stiles had been at ease around his friends, which had resulted in him talking at a speed that sounded like someone had pressed the fast forward button on his mouth, and his limbs were flailing everywhere in emphasis to all of his comments. He was so wrapped up in reciting his theory on X-Men that he didn't even noticed the exasperation on his friends' faces.

The week had continued in pretty much the same way, but it was Thursday when his friends had finally had enough. As expected, Jackson was the first to say something.

"Are you on Crack Stilinski, because you have been extra fucking annoying this week?"

That wouldn't have really bothered Stiles, considering Jackson is just a douche in general, but Scott had to add to it by gently saying, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but have you forgotten to take your meds this week?" 

However hurt Stiles was, he handled the situation the way he handles everything, by distracting the world from the real issue with ridiculous remarks. "Dude, if I was on Crack or off my meds, you would know. I would be moving so fast that none of you could even keep up. Besides, if I had access to Crack I wouldn't take it; I would sell it, and use the money to buy Comic Con tickets." This resulted in an almost simultaneous groan from the pack.

"Ugh, really Stiles?" Lydia asked, rolling her eyes before she got up just as the bell rang, ending lunch. Everyone else got up and followed Lydia, except for Stiles, who continued to sit at the table and think about how this hadn't been an issue last week, and it definitely hadn't been an issue the week before. He decided to just shake off the feeling and get to class.

The next class was Chemistry with Harris, Stiles' least favorite teacher, mostly because Stiles was Harris' most hated student. He never really understood why Harris hated him so much, but even Harris hadn't given him detention in almost three weeks. Unfortunately, that day seemed to be everyone's breaking point, and Stiles left Chemistry class with a week of detentions for blurting out answers and interrupting, even though Stiles hadn't intended to interrupt. 

This left Stiles in a sour mood for the rest of the day, and once he got home, an hour later than usual thanks to detention, he saw his dad's cruiser in the driveway. He wasn't expecting that his dad would be awake, but was pleasantly surprised to see his dad sitting on the chair in the living room.

"Hey dad," Stiles said as he threw himself onto the couch.

"Hey kid. Why are you home so late?" His dad asked, not accusingly, just with a bit of casual curiosity. 

"Ugh, Harris gave me a week of detention today, because I am apparently 'incredibly rude and a hindrance to the learning of the other students'. Which is stupid, because I wasn't being rude, and I was stating fully relevant points to the lesson," Stiles said in defense of himself.

His dad just sighed, "I believe you son, I guess I was just starting to think you were finally staying out of trouble. I know you don't mean to do it, but you really need to try and keep your comments under control, especially around Harris since he already doesn't like you."

"Yeah, I know, I'm working on it. I think it was just an off day for me, tomorrow will be better," he promised.

"Glad to hear it Kiddo. I know we haven't spent much time together lately, but hopefully I won't be working nights for too much longer. I already ordered takeout from that Thai place so you don't have to worry about dinner, and we can eat and hang out a little before I have to get to work."

"That sounds great Dad."

So the two of them watched baseball and ate Thai food, just hanging out before Sheriff Stilinski had to leave for work at six. 

Right as the sheriff was leaving he said, "I'll see you soon. Try and stay out of trouble, okay. I'm so proud of you for doing so well lately, whatever strategy you figured out was clearly working. Whatever it is, keep it up. Love you Kiddo, stay safe."

"I will. Bye Dad, I love you too," Stiles called out with a sour taste of emotion in his mouth as the door clicked shut, already figuring out a plan for what he knew he was going to have to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter. I am looking forward to seeing how this goes. I would love feedback.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles thinks through his options and then goes through a day of school, where a new character is presented.

This wasn't what his dad had meant; Stiles knew that, he really did, but it was technically a solution. The pill bottles were sitting in front of him on his bed, the bright orange plastic a menacing contrast to the dark grey sheets. While this wasn't how Stiles had expected to spend his Thursday evening, it was somehow his reality. Medication abuse was something Stiles had always told himself was dumb, no less illegal than doing crack, and probably just as bad. Still, he sat there rationalizing this messed up situation to himself.

"Well, tomorrow is Friday, nothing important is going on at school, and I can't show up to Pack Night with both meds in my system or Derek might threaten me, and not in the fun way. If I start back up with this again it could seriously mess up my body," as he expressed his thoughts out loud he finally addressed the risk to his health, momentarily reconsidering the horrible idea. However, despite the fact that his intelligence was exceptional, his self preservation was not his best strength, and health risks didn't act as much of a deterrent. He was part of a werewolf pack after all.

"All I have to do is cut it out on the weekends, giving my body a break. Obviously I would have to take just one on Fridays so Derek doesn't find out, but that seems manageable. This could work," Stiles concluded, way too proud of himself for thinking of his plan.

He set both bottles back onto his dresser, knowing nobody was going to see them even so out in the open as they were, before settling himself back down with his laptop for the night. Normally, he would have worked on homework, but the little bit that he had was finished during detention. This meant he could enjoy his evening filled with Netflix, except nothing seemed interesting enough, so he put FRIENDS on as background noise and scrolled mindlessly through Tumblr until one in the morning, when he eventually fell asleep.

In the morning when Stiles was getting ready for school, he was running late because he didn't set his alarm the night before. Actually, he might have set it, because the alarm clock showed that it was still set, but he had no memory of getting up to turn it off. This left him in a rush, so he blindly took one of his medications, not really caring which one at that moment, before getting dressed and running down the stairs.

Despite being in a rush, he couldn't help but to pause once he got into his Jeep, doing his usual routine of putting on the perfect song and taking a minute to just enjoy the feeling of being in his car. He grabbed a stick of gum from his backpack, just as a way to deal with the morning breath taste in his mouth, before finally heading to school, arriving just barely on time.

He realized about halfway through first period which one of his pills he took. He was in the middle of intensely taking notes from the textbook, feeling pretty confident about the material, when the girl sitting next to him at the desk lightly poked him in the arm with the eraser of her pencil to get his attention.

He turned to her, gave her his typical friendly grin and asked, "What's up?"

She turned her brown eyes down towards the desk, one hand reaching back to play with the ends of her own ponytail, tugging slightly and making a shaky noise before actually speaking, quietly enough to not draw the attention of the other students or the teacher. "I really hate to be this person, and I really hope you don't hate me for this, but I really need you to stop shaking your foot. Normally I don't care when you're tapping, but you keep hitting my foot, and you are shaking the whole desk, making it really hard for me to write my notes." 

Had this situation happened with any other person they probably would have either switched desks five minutes into class, or possibly have stabbed Stiles with their pencil before telling him to stop being such a spazz. But, it had come from one of the nicest humans, in the most polite way, after what was most likely thirty minutes of agony while trying to work. So instead of his usual sarcastic remarks that he would throw out in those situations, Stiles wanted only to apologize. "I'm sorry Millie. I didn't even realize I was doing it, let alone how it was affecting you. I hope it didn't cause too much of a problem for you, although it must have if you were willing to say something to me about it. You are probably one of the most patient people in this whole school for willingly sitting next to me. Is there something that I could get you that might be a good peace offering?" 

"I am definitely not that nice, and you put up with me sitting next to you as well. It isn't like either of us couldn't have just as easily moved to the completely empty desk by the window." Millie whispered, gesturing to the empty desk she had just referred to.

"I don't feel like arguing, but seriously. I want to extend an olive branch of friendship, and if you can't actually suggest a good peace offering to give you then I shall be forced to find an actual olive branch to present you." As he had hoped, Stiles' goofy comments actually drew a smile and light chuckle from the nervous girl.

"Honestly, as cool as an olive branch sounds, I much prefer candy, and I'm not picky, as long as it's not grape."

"Perfect, I will definitely have some for you on Monday," with that Stiles gathered all of his things and left with the rest of the class just as the bell rang.

Funny thing was that Millie was in, and sat next to him in, at least three more of Stiles' classes, and it wasn't that he didn't know she was there before, he just never had her talk directly to him before. Well, not without being paired up by teachers, and even then, they both tended to work alone. She didn't really talk to him again that day either, but the ice had finally been broken between the two.

This had also helped Stiles realize that Millie didn't sit next to him just because it was the only seat left, because each class they had together had at least one completely empty desk that she could have chosen instead. The reality was that she was a nervous girl who probably just wanted a friend, and saw him as non threatening, potential friend material. Stiles was reminded of a younger, pre bite Erica, which was what made him really want to be Millie's friend. As part of that, Stiles was careful about keeping his fidgeting as controlled as he could in the classes they had together for the rest of that day. 

If only she had been in his chemistry class, because it could have kept him from completely pissing off Harris that day. Well, maybe not, but it could have kept him from getting lunch detention that day, since Harris didn't think the week of detention after school was enough. Scott didn't help the matter, although he didn't get any detention for arguing, just Stiles.

When the bell rang for lunch Stiles was stuck sulking in his chair as Scott got up and walked out with nothing more than a pat on the shoulder and a remark of, "Sorry buddy."

Lunch that day had been filled with a lecture on how incompetent and disruptive Stiles was, that he needed to be useful. Harris shoved a box of fresh pencils and a manual sharpener at Stiles, pointing out that the teen couldn't be trusted with anything more serious because it might result in broken glass or an explosion, before going back to his own desk to eat lunch. 

The task had been so mindless and simple that Stiles' brain couldn't help but get carried away. There had been one moment where, without fully realizing that he was doing it, or remembering that someone was around, Stiles had started rapping parts of Eminem's songs to himself. This had resulted in being told to shut up by Harris, who let Stiles go as soon as the pencils were sharpened, after about twelve minutes, just to get some peace from the teen. 

Stiles had a hard time feeling bad for annoying Harris because the feeling was mutual, and it was Harris' fault that they had to spend so much time together. Even with the way Stiles was, Harris was one of the only teachers who actually ever gave Stiles detention. Coach was another teacher who would give detention to Stiles, except the punishment of choice was almost always laps, so at least Stiles could make use of his energy and get in shape. Harris was the only teacher who actually made Stiles have to spend more time stuck in the classroom with them. The other teachers would just lecture him, send him out of class briefly, or just put up with him until the bell would ring to end class. Most of them had realized that he was a good kid, who was smart and did the work, so as long as he didn't get too out of hand they didn't really care. 

After finally being freed from Harris, Stiles rushed out to the courtyard where the pack typically ate lunch in hopes of hanging out with them for the last ten minutes. Just as he got to his friends they gave him a look, half surprised he got out of detention early, and half annoyed that he stumbled in so late into lunch.

"Hey Stiles, I didn't think we would see you at lunch at all," Scott said, happy to see Stiles, but still cuddled up to Allison. 

"I know. Harris seems to keep me around a lot considering how much he says he hates me."

"Oh, before I forget. Pack night is cancelled tonight, everyone has other plans," Lydia mentioned as she stood up to start heading to her next class, dragging Jackson with her. 

Everyone else left without really acknowledging Stiles, too absorbed in each other, leaving Stiles to sigh and head to his next class alone.

The rest of the day passed with little interest, and luckily, little incident. Unfortunately Stiles still had to stay after for detention. As expected, detention was mind numbing and excruciating with its immense boredom and horrible teacher overseeing it. 

Being free for the weekend was refreshing, except when Stiles stepped outside he noticed Millie sitting on the curb in front of the school, looking distraught. 

Stiles stopped by her before speaking, "What are you still doing here? I highly doubt that you had detention."

Startled at the sound of another person, Millie jumps to her feet and stares wide eyed for just a moment before she realized it was Stiles, and she seemed to relax just slightly before drooping with clear distress. "I like to wait for most of the cars to be gone first, because the busy parking lot is a bit overwhelming, so I hang out in the library for about 30 minutes. However, today when I went to start my car I found out that my battery is dead."

"Do you need a jump?" Stiles asked.

"Do you have the cables, and know how, because I don't have cables, and I only know in theory what I'm doing. I could do it, but there is the risk that I might just electrocute myself. It is the main reason nobody else who was still here helped me before." Millie was nervous and hopeful as she explained the issue to Stiles.

"Don't worry. I have the cables and the experience. I have had to jump start my baby at least three times now," Stiles reassured her as he gestures her to follow him to his jeep.

Stiles grabbed his jumper cables from the trunk and handed them to Millie, telling her to take them to her car and he would meet her there with his jeep. She jerked her head in a nod before running off towards her car, parked two rows over. Right away, Stiles pulled his jeep over in front of Millie's light blue Honda Civic so that the two cars were almost nose to nose, then promptly shut off his engine. 

It became clear to Stiles that Millie had absolutely no clue what to do, as she stood in front of her car holding the jumper cables in a way that suggested she believed they were going to electrocute her without even being connected to anything. Just to spare her anymore anxiety Stiles delicately took the cables from Millie's hands and resigned himself to do all of the work.

"You just pop the hood on your car and wait, I will take care of everything," Stiles instructed calmly. Millie popped the hood of her car open and looked at Stiles in a way that seemed curious but hesitant. 

"Can you talk me through it as you do this, so I know how in the future, just in case?" 

"Alright, if you want to learn get close. First, take the red clip and connect it to this section with the plus sign on it in your car," Stiles said, watching carefully as Millie followed the instruction, before continuing on. "Next, I will do that same thing, except with my car, and I will attach the black clip to the negative side of my engine. Finally, take the other black clip and attach it to unpainted metal on your engine. Do not clip it to the negative side of your engine, or really bad things could happen." Stiles promptly hopped in his jeep and started the engine before going back to stand with Millie.

"How will we know when it's ready?" Millie asked.

"We honestly just wait about five minutes and then we test if it worked. There isn't much to it," Stiles replied with a shrug.

The two talked for a few minutes while they waited before having Millie try to start her car. When it immediately started she was overjoyed and thanked Stiles profusely, wondering how she could repay him.

"Don't sweat it, I would rather spend time helping you out than go back to my empty house to wallow in boredom and leave you stuck here for who knows how long. By the way, make sure to keep the engine running for at least fifteen minutes before you shut it off again or the battery won't hold the charge."

Millie nodded in understanding. She moved a hand behind her back to grab at the auburn strands of her ponytail, winding her fingers in the frizzy locks and tugging slightly before she said, "Hey, if you still don't feel like going home would you possibly want to sit with me for a bit longer, at least while I let the engine run?"

"That sounds great, actually," Stiles replied, once again sending his friendly and easygoing smile, which helped Millie become less tense in response.

"Well, I would say that jump starting my car more than sufficiently counts as a perfect olive branch. So if you are serious about being friends then we should definitely exchange numbers," she said with more confidence than usual, but her nerves were clearly still showing through towards the end as she held out her phone.

With a huge grin, Stiles grabbed Millie's phone and quickly typed his number into her contacts before sending himself a message to his phone to make sure he got her number too. He handed Millie her phone back, and was happy to see her start giggling at his contact.

"I really like the olive branch, it's perfect, and I definitely better get one next to my name on your phone," Millie said when she stopped giggling.

"Absolutely," Stiles said, showing her the contact for her in his phone, complete with the olive branch to match the one next to his name on her phone.

"Alright, I hate to go, but I have to get home. Thank you again, and feel free to text me whenever."

"Of course, and that goes for you too."

With that Millie got into her car and said, "Drive safe," before shutting the door and giving Stiles a friendly wave as she pulled away.

"You too," Stiles said to the departing car with a matching wave. Hopping in his jeep, he was still not looking forward to going back to his empty house for another lonely weekend, but he felt a bit less out of touch with the world than he did when the day had started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry that this is so long between updates, but this is probably going to continue to be updated quite slowly. The comments help motivate me though, mostly because it keeps me from forgetting about this. Honestly, I am shocked that some people are actually invested in this.   
> P.S.  
> This is a Sterek, and while I'm not sure how long it will take to get there exactly, it will get there. I don't want anyone hating on Millie for simply not being Derek and having Stiles pay attention to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles actually chooses to seek real help from his doctor?

The doctor's office had become an extremely familiar place to Stiles over the years, in there at least once every three months for a renewal on his medication. In most cases, it should have been every month, as ADHD meds are one of the most common prescriptions that get sold on the street, stolen, or simply misused. That being said, Doctor Dune had been making an exception for Stiles since around Freshman year when his body seemed balanced with the meds and his schedule was much busier. There was never anything new to be shared at the appointments, and Stiles wasn't always able to make it to an appointment every month. This was his second appointment in a month though.

"Stiles, not that I don't enjoy your company, but should I be concerned that I'm seeing you twice in one month?" 

"Ah, Dr. Doom, straight to the point as always," Stiles said dramatically with a flourish of his hands, earning a chuckle from his doctor at the long withstanding nickname. "Honestly, it isn't anything that should worry you, but I wanted to talk to you sooner rather than later."

"Alright, I'm all ears," Dune assured as he turned to give Stiles his full attention.

At that Stiles sighed before he began. "So, I tried the new medication for about two weeks, wanting to give it a fair chance, but it was definitely not right. It helped calm my body, but not really my mind. School was harder, but not really in a way that anyone noticed because to the outside world I seemed more balanced, I was getting in trouble less with my teachers. I still had medication left from my old prescription, which I had kept just in case, so I switched back, just wanting to feel normal again. However, changing back didn't seem to help, it made the flaws seem more prominent than before. I was getting my work done, but I couldn't help the fact that everyone suddenly seemed to think I was a problem. By Friday I was given a week of detention after school and a couple lunch detentions. My friends thought that I was either completely off my meds or possibly even on crack. Basically, neither one is really working and I was hoping you had a solution."

Obviously Stiles left out the blatant abuse of his medications, but he knew that with all of the information he spit out it wouldn't even be considered that he might be hiding something. To be honest, he almost wasn't going to go back to the doctor at all, let alone be that honest about the situation, but the weekend had really opened his eyes. 

He had spent late afternoon on Saturday hanging out with Millie. He wasn't originally going to take his medication at all that day but didn't want to go out without taking anything, so he took his old medication at almost three in the afternoon. They both had a great time, hanging out at an empty park with some lunch they had grabbed from the diner. It had been so refreshing to be around someone who didn't seem bothered at all by his 'symptomatic personality traits,' a title he tends to use in reference to the things about him people complain about. 

Due to the fact that he took his medication so late in the afternoon, he was up really late that evening. Alright, he was always up late, but that evening his brain was still able to focus pretty well, so he decided to reassess his medication situation from a new, safer perspective. The realization he had was that he couldn't keep playing with medication, especially without any real medical knowledge, and it was best to just talk to his doctor again.

That was how Stiles found himself in the doctor's office on Sunday afternoon, seeking a better way to fix his problem. Stiles was pretty confident in Dr. Dune's ability to help, considering he had been helping since Stiles was ten. Unfortunately he was quickly disappointed by his doctor.

"Stiles, first thing is that you shouldn't take the new medication anymore because it clearly did more harm than good. Next, I know you want a perfect fix, but your old medication is better for your wellbeing from what you told me. The best plan of action would be to continue your normal medication at its usual dosage, and go see our behavioral therapist to help with the impulse control, because that seems to be your only trouble with the usual medication."

The advice made sense, and was a healthier option than what he had been doing, but it felt like all of those times Stiles was told to just 'try harder' so he could be more normal. He chose to hide his bitterness and disappointment, letting the doctor set up his prescription and hand him the name and number for the behavioral therapist. He left the doctor, being sure to keep up the grateful patient act until he was back alone in his jeep.

"Fine, if you aren't going to actually help me then I will just have to go to plan D," Stiles muttered to himself, glaring at the road while he headed back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, I am shocked that I updated again so soon. I know this is short, but it needs to be. 
> 
> Thank you guys for all of the comments and love, it helps keep me motivated.
> 
> Also, just so I have something to write while I think up the next chapter, keeping me in a writing state of mind, I am open to suggestions for one-shots to write if anyone is interested.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story on here, and my first story in the Teen Wolf fandom. I hope it turned out alright, please let me know what you think.


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